Timeless: Goofy Summer Fun On TV!

Timeless kicks off with a bold move:Garcia Flynn (Goran Visnjic) a terrorist steals a time machine and heads back to the day the Hindenburg crashed. Three people – a historian, Lucy Preston (Abigail Spencer) a Delta Force soldier, Wyatt Logan (Matt Lanter) and a pilot, Rufus Carlin (Malcolm Barrett) – are send back to stop him. They are not completely successful.

Timeless is yet another attempt for network to make a time travel show – which is okay with me; I love time travel shows – but Timeless, while showing a lot of promise, also plays into a number of clichés – like the way Logan falls for a doomed reporter and tries to save her (lack of discipline? From a Delta force guy? really?) with peculiar results – it’s amazing what even the most minor change can do to the present….

TIMELESS — Abigail Spencer (Photo by: Joe Lederer/NBC)

For the premiere, Carlin seems to be along for the mostly so he bemoan being sent to 1938 where blacks are still treated like fifth-class citizens. That’s fun the first couple of times, but could be problematic as the show goes on.

On the other hand, the premiere’s humor (‘He’s Dr. Dre, I’m Nurse Jackie and we’re from General Hospital’) suggests this is a series that will not take itself too seriously – a TV version of goofy summer fun.

Another plus is that the trio have to use the unprettified beta test machine – this show’s version Doctor Who’s rackety old TARDIS (minus chameleon circuit, malfunctioning or otherwise…).

Adding to the show’s freshness is the terrorist’s motivation, which is unique – and causes unexpected problems for one of the trio.